The Jaffe Briefing - December 6, 2021

MONTCLAIR – As we are still trying to figure out if 2021 was “good” or “bad,” there’s at least one sector of New Jersey that has endless blessings to count. And that would be anyone who sold real estate this year. NJ.com reports that homes sold at more than 100% of asking price every month except February, when they sold at “just” 99.9% of asking price. One of the hottest places was Upper Montclair, with houses selling for 20% over asking price, followed by boring, old Montclair, at 13.7% over asking. The small shore towns were also molten hot, but Realtors say they do not have the volume of inventory to make the statewide list when all the data is crunched. But there was a clear and obvious trend: an insatiable demand to live in leafy, suburban North Jersey.

MADISON – A war on Christmas? That’s what the latest FDU poll says, with nearly four out of 10 of us saying that politicians are trying to scrub all religion from the holiday. The big opinion drivers are Trump supporters, who believe the birth of Jesus seems to be getting lost in all the hype over Santa, the latest cyber sales and preparing the perfect honey-glazed ham. “Trump made this his centerpiece claim in the 2020 campaign, and in 2018, he declared victory on the war on Christmas,” explains the FDU poll director. “This is the highest we've ever seen it.” The poll says 71% of Trump voters believe in the war, compared with 14% of Biden supporters. This issue all seems to be the brainchild of Fox News, always eager to gin up the latest issue to engage and enrage its faithful viewers. No doubt, there’s been a clear push for “Happy Holidays” over “Merry Christmas,” taking into account the winter celebrations are for everyone. But is it “a war”?

STATEWIDE – The cheapest way to live in New Jersey is to stay in bed and quietly respirate. Alas, no one can live that way and we must ultimately venture outside, perhaps hitting a toll road or two. And that is where we will soon be whacked with the latest increase in costs, as tolls on both the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway are increasing another 3% by the end of the month, following some big toll hikes last year, NJ.com reports. It wasn’t long ago, relatively speaking, that chucking a quarter in a basket was all you needed to get from here to there. But that was before the Turnpike somehow amassed a $2.3 billion annual budget and continually seeks “a stable funding source” for the latest round of road construction. 

BRIEFING BREATHER

An ant rests for eight minutes in a 12-hour period.

STATEWIDE – With the highest rates of COVID in seven months, the must-have in this season’s stocking is a booster shot. In fact, vaccines are more popular this season than the Sony Playstation 5, as there were nearly 2.2 million doses administered just on Thursday, the highest-single daily rate since May. It is great news, as this unknown omicron variant has already hit New Jersey shores, sending shockwaves through the medical community, preparing for another bout with the unknown. Every New Jersey adult is now eligible for a booster, no need to wait out the Christmas rush.

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS

POOLESVILLE, Md. – There are smart ways to get snakes out of your house. Burning it to the ground is not one of them. A homeowner thought it made perfect sense to create some smoke to purge the snakes, the Washington Post reports. But things quickly got out of hand, as you can surmise, as 75 firefighters from throughout Montgomery County raced to the house on Nov. 23, trying to save the $1 million structure. It was quickly learned the homeowner put coals too close to combustible materials and, well, Boom. No clue if the snakes are still in the rubble, as their well-being remains “undetermined” at press time.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

It was this day in 1990 that Shoeless Joe Jackson’s autograph sold for $23,100. We’d spend that for his shoe.

WORD OF THE DAY

Commodious – [kuh-MOH-dee-us] – adjective

Definition: Comfortably or conveniently spacious

Example: If you decide to live in Jersey City, don’t expect a commodious apartment.

WIT OF THE DAY

“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.” 

-Ronald Reagan

BIDEN BLURB

“Funding the government isn’t a great achievement. It’s the bare minimum of what we need to get done.”

-Joe Biden

WEATHER IN A WORD

Windy